


Freakshow

by WholeLottaTiffy



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Blood and Gore, Drug Use, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Friendship, Reunions, Smoking, Violence, established relationships - Freeform, following canon, following fallout 4's story, old flames rekindled, spoilers in the tags, tw blood and gore, tw drug use, tw violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 12:28:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25969714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WholeLottaTiffy/pseuds/WholeLottaTiffy
Summary: Set during the plot of Fallout 4, Ashe joins Nick and the Sole Survivor (Liana) on their journey to find her son, but then gets sidetracked when they inevitably reach Goodneighbor. Ashe is then forced to face her fears head on: What if Hancock wants nothing to do with her once they reunited?-----A collection of snippets and stories of Ashe and Hancock's relationship
Relationships: John Hancock (Fallout)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. Locked and Loaded

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I write for the Witcher fandom but have decided to branch out a bit.  
> This story is a little side project I have for my OC Ashe and Hancock in the Fallout 4 universe.  
> I hope you all enjoy reading. <3  
> \-----  
> Italics mean a characters thoughts are being shown.  
> Any time you see a horizontal line, it means a flashback is occurring. Once you see a second horizontal line, it means the flashback has ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics mean a characters thoughts are being shown.  
> A horizontal line means a flashback is taking place.

It is a particularly cloudy morning in Diamond City as Ashe wakes up and climbs out of bed, luckily not hungover from the night before over at the Dugout Inn. Walking over to her dresser, she grabs her normal go to outfit, a pair of tight black jeans, grey tank top, and her trusty duster goes over top of it all. Pulling a large box over, she sits on top and wipes down her mirror before going to work on her hair. She brushes the hair she has on the top of her head since she shaves the sides, and pulls it back in a ponytail.

Once finished, she goes to her sink washing her face before going back to her bed, pulling her safe out from underneath. She grabs a few knives, placing two inside her duster’s pockets lined on the inside, then holstering a .45mm on her right hip before closing it, pushing it back underneath the mattress and rusted frame. 

Once she reaches her front door, she pats down her pockets. _Okay, we got keys, money pouch, ammo, weapons… perfect,_ she thinks to herself before unlocking her front door and stepping outside, locking her door behind her, she heads straight to Power Noodles from her home and slides onto a stool. The robot, Takahashi, turns around to look at her. 

“Nan-ni shimasho-ka?”

“The usual my man.” Sliding over some caps, she gets slid a large bowl of noodles. She sits there for a while eating, and once she is finished, she slides the bowl to Takahashi, throwing a tip his way when she hears a very familiar voice behind her.

“Well well, look who’s actually awake before noon.” Looking over her shoulder, Nick Valentine, Diamond City’s sole detective, and the only synth that is welcomed and renowned in Diamond City walks over to her with a smile, patting her back once. She looks at him with a wide smile on her face before hopping off the stool hugging him tightly.

“Nicky! Damn I’m so glad you’re alright! I was getting as worried when you ran off for that case and didn’t come back. Pretty damn close to going out there and looking for you myself.”

“Well, I had some help. I took on another kidnapping case-.”

“Another one?” Nick nods his head. “Jesus fucking Christ Nick… what’s it this time?” 

“A mother was frozen in Vault 111 for 200 years. At some point, she was unfrozen, a group of people opening up her husband's cryopod which also had their newborn baby, Shaun. Shot the husband, took the kid, weird enough though, the man who did it looked at our mother and said, “at least we have a backup.”

“Um… did you say 200 years?”

“Ashe, stay with me on this.”

“200 years… Nick. Do you hear yourself? That’d be before the war.”

“Ashe.” Nick says getting a bit annoyed. 

“Okay okay, damn Nick ya leave for a week and you get all testy… So, you may be dealing with someone who may have done this kinda shit before.”

“At least someone who knows what they are doing. In fact the person who came and rescued me is the one who I took the case on from.”

“Seriously? So they went to look for you because they needed you?”

“That’s right. Ashe, say hello to Liana.” Nick steps out of the way and Ashe gets a good look at the woman. About as tall as herself, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, beat up cowboy hat, faded flannel and jeans along with a pair of simple work boots. Her clothes definitely scream Commonwealth, but the look in her eyes, the terror and nervousness that fill them say otherwise. _Nervous as fuck, better try and cheer her up while I’m at it._

“Liana, huh?” The woman nods. “Pretty name.” Ashe walks over and shakes her hand, noticing the glint of a wedding band on a piece of thin rope around her neck. “Sorry about what happened… I wish I could be more of a help for ya.”

“You can,” Nick begins, the two woman watch as he joins them away from the Power Noodle stand, “Come with us. I told her I have a pretty good contact here that could help us. You said it yourself, you’ve been meaning on leaving Diamond City, what better way than helping your ol’ pal Nick?”

“You’d want me to come with?” Ashe asks with a smile, Liana responding.

“The more the better right?”

“I don’t know if caps will ever be involved, this case may evolve to a point where we get stuck, but-.”

“No caps needed. I’m in. Just gotta grab a bit more… firepower from my house. C’mon, you guys can come sit down for a minute.”

The group walks on over to Ashe’s home and they all walk inside. Nick and Liana look around as Ashe walks on over and moves a bookcase and then enters a pin on a keypad, a safe door opening in the wall. Liana looks over once the safe door opens. “Well I’ll be damned,” Nick begins, “keeping the goodies locked up tight?”

“Damn straight. Ain’t nobody breaking into this, especially,” and this is when she pulls out an assault rifle, and begins storing ammo in a small bag on her hip and inside her pockets, “for this big girl here. I call her Vera.” She then holsters it to her back.

“Well damn,” Nick begins, “I knew I was expecting something, maybe not an assault rifle being that something.”

“Ah c’mon Nicky, expect less from me? You know the crowd I used to run with.”

As they exit the home, Nick leads the way, Liana off one shoulder and Ashe off the other. “Our first main suspect. He had a home here, still technically is. Mercenary type, moves around a lot so doesn't stay in residence for long but still owns the home.”

“Mercenary type huh? Interesting.” Ashe responds, Nick continuing.

“It has to be someone who would know what they’re doing. Kidnapping a baby, carting him all across the Commonwealth, and for what?” As Nick and Ashe continue to talk amongst each other, Liana follows and feels more and more lost.

“Institute?” Ashe asks, Nick shrugging. 

“Possibly. Which is why we need to go check something out first.” As they get further out of the main square and now into the outer fields and stands, Ashe notices how close they are getting to a specific building, a specific home. She immediately gets nervous, Nick noticing how she has slowed her step when they get up onto the upper platform. “You alright back there, Ashe?” She says nothing, making Nick stop, Liana stopping as well, Ashe now catching up. “Ashe.”

“… We’re going to Kellogg’s place?” She responds quietly.

“Yeah? Is that a problem?” Nick asks, immediately getting a little suspicious. 

“What? No, no no of course not. Just um… I uh… well…” She looks at Nick, his robotic eyes darting around her face, “We had a um… we may uh… it was only once though-.”

“Seriously? You had a one night stand with him?” Ashe doesn’t respond. “Why- ya know what, don’t wanna know. But I do want to know if he had a kid with him.”

“Kid? No not at all. It was just him. Then he left. Nick, you know if I had any more information to help you out I’d tell ya.” 

“That I do. Let’s keep going.” 

The trio arrives at the front door, Ashe immediately kneeling down, taking a bobby pin and screwdriver to the door. Within a few seconds she picks the lock, grabbing the hilt of her 10mm on her hip, pushing the door open. The three sneak inside, shutting the door behind them. Ashe checks upstairs and doesn’t find him anywhere. 

“Alright, look around for anything weird, I know the bastard left something behind or out of place.” She says and that is about when Liana, within a few seconds, responds to her.

“Like this huge ass red button?” Liana says pointing to it underneath the desk in the center of the room.

“... Yeah, I suppose so.” Liana presses it, the wall off to the side of the room opening up. “Well, I’ll be damned.” Ashe responds, leading the group inside the room.

The trio rummages around, that is until Liana takes a look at the table besides a chair in the center of the room. Ashe speaks up, narrating basically what she finds. “Well, we got some ammo… a few bottles of Nuka-cola…”

“San Francisco Sunlights... huh.” Liana questions, the other two looking over at her. “This guy has very specific tastes.” Nick comes over, picking a still smoldering one up out of the ash tray.

“Interesting brand. Won’t lead us anywhere on its own, though. What do ya think, Ashe?” Nick says looking at her. Ashe takes her time, leaning her back against the doorway.

“Hm… well, we need a tracker. Someone good at tracking by smell. Sorry to say I don’t have a super sniffer like a raider dog or a super mutant hound.”

“... I think I may have someone, give me a second.” Nick steps out of the room, then back outside, whistling, before coming back inside. 

“Nicky, you literally are the dumbest detective. You may have well just screamed, ‘ _Kellogg you shit, get in here_.’” Nick laughs as he walks over to her.

“Not to worry. No matter where my contact is, he always comes.” All of a sudden, a purebred German Shepherd comes inside, Nick smiling, Liana looking as confused as ever, and Ashe kneeling down, petting him.

“Dogmeat! Seems like we all know this little guy.”

“Is that… a purebred German Shepherd? 200 years after a nuclear war?” Liana asks, a little dumbfounded. Ashe, responds looking up at her.

“Yep! Seems like a lot of people just end up finding him, too. Always the helper.” Taking one of the cigars, she shows it to the dog. “Here boy, get a good sniff. Gotta find a man, got it?”

 _“Bark!”_ That is when Dogmeat turns and begins walking outside.

“Bingo. Well, y’all heard him, let’s get going.”

As the trio follows Dogmeat, occasionally having to pick up a new scent trail, Liana decides to spark up some conversation with Ashe. “So, Ashe, how long have you lived in Diamond City?”

“Hm… five, six years? Sound about right, Nicky?” The synth takes a long drag on his now lit cigarette before responding.

“Sounds right. It really has been that long?” 

“That it has. I lived in a small little settlement with a few others before then. I figured coming to Diamond City was a bit safer than just being out in the Commonwealth.” Ashe doesn’t realize it, but she begins to smile. Nick notices how genuinely happy she suddenly looks as Liana speaks up.

“I know that smile. You fell in love, didn’t you.” Ashe nods her head in response. “Well, what was he like?” Ashe glances at Nick who is now intently looking at her, knowing he knows the full story. She then turns to look back in the direction they are headed.

“He was… well, definitely interesting to say the least. Would you like to hear how we met?”

“I’d love to!”

* * *

It has only been a few months into living in Diamond City, but Ashley already has found that she has really enjoyed herself so far. Especially the people she has gotten to know. She found herself pretty quickly accepted into a small group of guys. All twentie-somethings all trying to have a hell of a time.

Jordan, a human man who has come from a family of raiders.  
Leo, a man that was ghoulified at the start of the Atomic War.  
And Quill, a human man whose family has always lived in Diamond City since it was refurbished after the War.

Ashley walks into the Dugout Inn, seeing her three friends all lounging around on a few of the couches and chairs and she smiles before she walks on over to the three to join them. Immediately, Leo looks up and begins talking to her, the other two now noticing her. 

“Well well well, look who decided to finally join us! Get on over here, chica and sit down. Saved ya your first drink.” Leo says as she plops on down beside him on the couch. She takes the glass and takes a sip.

“What can I say, I needed to fill up on noodles before hanging out with you three. Always end up with a hangover the next day.” They all clink their bottles and glasses together before the four of them take the first group drink of the night. 

Hours into the night, the group of friends are laughing and drinking, but Ashley notices a tall man dressed in a pair of somewhat tight jeans, boots, and a t-shirt. The mystery man walks up to the counter and judging by the way Vadim greets him, she can tell that he comes here somewhat often. 

_Well well well, who are you?_ She thinks to herself as she looks over the man. _Tall, lean but muscle… low dirty blonde ponytail… damn it man turn around, I want to see that face._

“Hellooooo? Earth to Ashley?” Quill’s voice suddenly pops into her mind and she snaps out of it, all three friends looking at her. “Whatcha looking at there?” He turns around and looks at the only man in her eyesight before looking back at her smirking. 

“That hot piece of ass at the bar.” She says taking one final sip of her drink. “Who is that? I don’t think I’ve seen him before.”

“You can’t be serious, chica.” He leans closer to her and nods over to the man. “That’s John McDonough.”

“McDonough… ain’t his brother running for mayor?” Ashley asks, Leo nodding his head in response.

“Damn straight… he’s a cool guy. Joined our group a few days ago… Well, whatcha waiting for? Go over and introduce yourself!” Leo begins trying to lightly push her up off the couch, which she immediately hesitates which makes her other two friends begin to pull her up. Shaking her head, she agrees and takes a breath before walking up to the counter with her empty glass. 

Leaning against the counter, she places her elbows down and Vadim comes over to her with a smile. Immediately, she can see John look over at her from her left. Vadim joins her where she is at the counter, exclaiming, “My friend! Looking for another?”

“You know my poison Vadim, what can I say? But,” Ashley glances over at John McDonough nodding towards him, “I’ll have whatever he’s having.” Vadim turns and looks underneath one of the back cabinets for a minute, leaving John and Ashley alone. 

John looks at her, a cheeky grin with one eyebrow raised. “Hopefully you can hold your own or else I’ll have to carry you outta here, sister.” Vadim slides it over and she notices it is probably just whiskey seeing the color. Handing him the caps, she eyes John as she takes a big sip. 

“Figured it would be Vadim’s moonshine and not just…” Ashley stops dead in her tracks realizing it is a mixed drink, “you little shit this is mixed with moonshine ain’t it.” John laughs, taking another sip of his drink. 

“I did warn ya.” He turns and leans against the bar counter on his side so he is facing her. “Does the lady have a name?”

“Maybe.” She responds, leaning against the bar to face him as well. John laughs at her response, finishing his drink.

“Alright, fair enough. I’m John.”

“Ashley.” 

Looking past her, he sees his new friends off by the couches. “Well, look there, hey guys!” Ashley looks back and notices Jordan, Leo and Quill wave in their direction as well. “I don’t think they’d mind if a pretty thing like you’d join us.”

“Ah, why the hell not.” She responds, knowing all too well what she is going to do. They walk over to the pair and immediately, she sits down speaking first, “so Leo, we were talking about something before, what was it again?” As Leo begins explaining, she glances over at Hancock who is looking at her with a bit of surprise and curiosity before pulling a chair over joining the group. 

The entire conversation for the rest of the night, Ashley finds she can’t concentrate too well. Could be the alcohol, but she has a good feeling it’s also because of John. She finds that she is laughing more, striking up conversation more with him than the others. Ashley gets up and uses the restroom in the bar, and swipes a napkin from the counter before closing the stall behind her. She very quickly writes down her address at Home Plate, putting some flare on the napkin by drawing a winky face before returning to her friends.

She’s somewhat upset the night has to end, as the group bids farewell with hugs and handshakes for all. Ashley takes extra care in giving John a longer hug, stealthily sliding the napkin into his back pocket before the pair separates.

* * *

Once Ashe finishes telling the story, Nick can’t help but feel a bit of melancholy as Liana absolutely swoons over it. “Oh wow, what happened from there?”

“Well, we got to know each other. Hung out more, had some nights with the friends…” Nick can notice how she hesitates in the middle of her thought, “We… separated. Wasn’t necessarily any fault of either of us. The current Mayor won the election in Diamond City and that is when his anti-ghoul agenda really got bad. I had plenty of friends all over the city, some including ghouls. Thankfully I didn’t find any of them dead in the streets.”

“Oh… I’m… I didn’t know, I’m sorry.” Liana responds as Ashe continues.

“Ain’t your fault. That’s when he left. I could tell he was upset, kept saying that he ‘didn’t do enough’ and ‘tried to stop the mayor’ but couldn’t.” That is when Ashe notices Dogmeat gain some distance and bark a few times. “Hey uh, looks like Dogmeat found something.”

Liana walks ahead of the group towards Dogmeat, Nick staying behind for a moment with Ashe, patting her shoulder. “You know I’m here if you wanna talk. I may not be the best at consoling someone like Ellie, but I can at least be here for you.”

“Thanks Nick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. :)  
> Special thanks: gharashambles (silenceisaweapon)


	2. Cigarette Smoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any time you see a horizontal line, it means a flashback is occurring. Once you see a second horizontal line, it means the flashback has ended.  
> Italics mean a characters thoughts are being shown.

Taking his usual walk through Goodneighbor, Hancock lights up a cigarette taking occasional drags from it, nodding his head towards the armed town guards, chatting it up with some of them as well. Once reaching the main gate's courtyard, he stops and leans up against one of the State House walls, looking around before fixating on a pair of people buying some ammo from one of the shops. He notices that one of them has shaved the sides of their hair, the hair they do have tied in a ponytail. Hancock being immediately intrigued, thinking that this could finally be the moment he's been waiting for. 

To see Ashe again. 

However, the person turns and leaves with their companions and he finds that it is not a lady, but a guy. Hancock sighs, taking a longer drag on his cigarette before turning back and walking down the alleyway, now suddenly finding that he cannot stop thinking about Ashe.  He curses to himself a little once alone and tries to shake her out of his mind. But nothing works. Everything he looks at manages to remind him of her, which bothers the hell out of him since she has never even seen Goodneighbor. Not that he knows of anyway.

The shops reminding him of their late night ammo runs.  
The dark alleys reminding him of the amount of times they were almost caught fucking around.  
The cigarette smoke he blows, reminding him of the amount of times she would blow smoke in his face after they…

Once he reaches the entrance to the statehouse closer to the entrance of the walled off settlement, he drops the cigarette, stomping it out with his boot before heading inside.  Walking up the steps, he finds Fahrenheit, his bodyguard, sharpening one of her knives. When he walks inside the room, she nods his head towards him. 

“How was your walk?” She asks.

“Not too bad. Nothing going on in town is always a good thing.” He flops down in one of the couches and takes off his hat and tosses it to the other side of the couch he is laying on. For the next few minutes, Fahrenheit notices how he is staring up at the ceiling. No cigarette between his ghoulified lips, no jet canister in his hand.

Just Hancock, staring straight up at the ceiling.

“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you.” She says simply, putting away her knives. Hancock sighs rubbing his temple.

“No, I’m not.”

"The woman gets up and walks to the door to leave. “Have a good night, Hancock. Don’t try and think too hard, that head of yours might explode.” This gets a chuckle out of the ghoul before she shuts the double doors behind her.

Immediately, he gets up and walks over to one of the desks and opens the drawer. He rummages through his keepsakes before he pulls out a photo of the two of them. He looks over the photo, remembering that this is around when Quill, one of their old buddies, had found an old school camera and managed to get it to work only a few times. 

The photo shows him with Ashe wrapping her arms around his torso, her face still bandaged up from the Deathclaw that had ambushed them. 

_ Damn, we looked so young…  _

He walks back to the couch, sitting down and intently studying the photo as his mind wanders back to that moment in time…

* * *

Hiding behind a rock face reloading his weapon, John takes a deep breath before hoping back up, unloading an entire clip into the adult Deathclaw in the clearing along with her group of friends. They all are shouting, trying to help one another as the adult Deathclaw screeches. 

Eventually, after a few more clips from everyone, the adult falls down to the ground with a thud. Immediately, Hancock looks around and finds that the minute he finds where she is standing, she yells out in panic as a baby Deathclaw has tackled her to the ground.

“Ashe!” John yells, and as he unloads into the Deathclaw, she throws her gun off to the side as she attempts to throw it off. John doesn’t stop shooting until the baby falls over, dead, with plenty of bullet holes in it. 

Ashley sits up in a kneeling position, grasping the right side of her face as John rushes to her side, immediately throwing her gun to Leo as he holds her still. “Ashe, c’mon you’re okay. Move your hand. Here, here take this.” He says as he hands her a relatively clean rag. Ashley takes it and puts pressure on the wound with the rag which allows John the perfect view of the wound.

_ It got her good… the bastard. _ He thinks to herself as the group all grabs her things that she threw down as John helps her up. 

“We ain’t too far from Diamond City, shouldn’t take us any time at all to get back.” He keeps his gun at the ready, the group all huddling around the pair as she leans somewhat on John to keep herself steady.

Once back inside the City walls, she immediately is taken to her home at her request. Once inside, she runs to the sink, immediately putting her face underneath the running water as Hancock rummages around her cabinets for some alcohol, rags and bandages. Every time she hisses and cringes in pain, it pulls at something inside him, making him search quicker. 

“Aghg-fuck that hurts. Fucking hell…” John comes over and stands behind her, turning the water off. “John what are you-.”

“You don’t need shitty water from the tap. This’ll sting, but it’ll be better for you.” She groans and grasps the sides of the sink giving him a nod to motion she is ready. He responds by pouring some alcohol on a rag, then on the claw wounds on her cheek. She hisses, grasping the sink even more, bracing herself. “Doing great, sister. I know it sucks, hurts like hell, but this’ll make sure you won’t get an infection. At least better your chances.” He continues to clean it and the minute he places the vodka bottle down, he watches as she takes a swig of it making him grin at least a little bit. 

“How am I- aghg- lookin’ John?” She manages to ask.

“Well, it ain’t deep enough to need stitches, but ya need to keep this bandaged up.” This is when the front door opens, Quill speaking.

“Hey guys, Valentine wants to make sure everything’s alright.”

“Let ‘em in.” John speaks, Nick rushing over to John and Ashley’s position. “Hey there Nicky.”

“What in the hell happened to you guys? What the hell happened?” Nick asks, John responding.

“We took on an adult Deathclaw, turns out a little baby one was roaming about nearby. Managed to get the upper hand on her.” John explains, Ashe then speaking up as John leaves the sink. 

“How do I look, Nick? Does it give me a ‘sexy barbarian Queen’ look?”

“Always the jokester, Ashley.” John then joins the pair with another rag, bandages and some tape. “Here, let me help you guys. Another two hands will help.”

Once she’s all bandaged up, it is well into the night. John is cleaning up and once finished, she asks if he wants to share a smoke on the roof. He responds with only a nod of his head. Once up there, they sit down beside one another as Ashley lights a cigarette up taking a long drag of it before handing it to John. That is all they do for a while, sit and pass the cigarette between one another. 

John is sitting there in silence, silence he knows Ashley must notice by now. That is confirmed when she speaks up.

“Hey John?”

“Yeah?”

“You… okay?” He looks at her, taking a deep breath before he responds.

“I’m better. Was pretty fucking scared earlier.”

“Scared? Since when has John McDonough been scared?” She responds a bit more lighthearted, that is until she notices how he is looking at the bandaged part of her face with anger in his eyes.

“You got jumped by a fucking Deathclaw Ashe, I mean sure it was a baby, but I don’t think I’ve seen ya in that much trouble before. It… scared me. A lot. I mean, what if we weren’t all there? What if I decided to not come with all you guys? Who would’ve been there to save you?” She stays silent, seeing him get a little worked up, he sighs, taking another drag on his cigarette. “I… care about you. A lot, alright? Let’s just keep it there.” 

“You care about me?”

“Didn’t I just say we were gonna let it be?”

“You did, but that ain’t how I react when someone says they care about me.” She pauses a moment, collecting her thoughts. “Thanks, John… I… I’m gonna say something and you gotta promise not to freak alright? Just listen… I… care about you too. A lot. You’re always there for me. For the good times, the fun times, and… I suppose these times.” She somewhat motions to the bandages on her face before chuckling a little, looking away from him. “May or may not have had impure thoughts about you, but eh, whatever.” John looks at her as she continues, Ashley returning his gaze. “Whether you feel the same about me, I just felt like I needed to get that off my chest. If ya don’t, we can just forget any of this conversation happened.”

He stays silent, but he does smile, putting the now finished cigarette out as he leans back on his hands. “I’m nothin’ but trouble and you know it.”

“And what am I?”

He chuckles, sliding over to her closer, wrapping an arm around her. “Ashe, you are nothing but trouble… my kind of woman.”

“Ash… You keep saying that today.”

“Yeah. Do you like it?

“... I do actually.”

“Yeah but, Ash with an ‘e’.” She looks up at him a little curious. “What? Like Ash, but then you’re cool and edgy so you add a random letter at the end. Ash with an ‘e’.”

The pair sits like that for what feels like hours, that is until John can feel her lean into him a bit more. Looking down, he sees her head on his shoulder and eyes closed. 

_ Out like a light… let's see how sneaky I can be.  _ He thinks to himself as he ever so gently and smoothly, moves his body to be able to slide his arm underneath her and cradle her as he stands up.

John walks over and manages to climb down the ladder back inside. However, once he begins to lay her down on the bed, she stirs awake. 

"... hey, john-."

"Shhhh, you fell asleep." John goes to move away but Ashe grasps his arm in her sleepy state. 

"Stay?" 

John immediately gets butterflies in his stomach as she looks up at him. He nods his head once and slides into her bed, Ashe immediately curling into his side as she falls back asleep almost immediately. 

The following day comes around, light streaming into the room from the latch leading to her roof as Hancock opens his eyes. 

_ Darn, must've fallen asleep… _ he thinks to himself, looking to the left of him and seeing Ashe still sound asleep curled into his chest. He can't help but smile.  _ How did I get so lucky… the way her hair just falls across her face… her smile… her eyes as they just sparkle with- oh shit she's awake. _

"See something you like?" She asks in a quiet voice.

"That I do. Did you sleep alright?" She nods her head yes. 

"Yep, just in a bit of pain." She says rubbing her bandaged cheek a little before sitting up in bed. "I like your 'just woken up' voice. Nice and gravely." Ashe says as she kisses his forehead before getting up out of bed and walking over to her sink. Hancock watches as she rummages through her cabinet before finding a bottle of painkillers, taking a few with a glass of water. 

Looking at herself in the mirror, Hancock watches as she attempts to remove some of the bandages. He quickly gets up and grabs the roll of bandages from a nearby table and walks over to her offering his assistance. As he slowly removes them from her cheek, there’s a number of soft curses from her until he removes the last one.

They get a good look of the wounds, still fresh, but at least not horribly bleeding or will need any form of stitching. Taking the nearby vodka bottle, still having some blood stains on the outside, she soaks a rag before handing it to John who goes about cleaning it as best as possible. 

Once all cleaned, and re-bandaged up, they head outside and grab a bowl of noodles each before their friends all come out of their homes and join them a few hours later. The three are super excited and pumped as Quill wraps his arms around Ashe and John. 

“Hey guys, how ya feelin’ Ashe?” Quill asks as Ashe turns around enough to look at him.

“Not too bad. Pain killers are kicking in so I should feel better.”

“Good. But this should raise your spirits. Check this out!” He pulls out an old camera from his bag, John eyeing it up. 

“Where in the hell did ya find that?” He asks Quill.

“A few of us went out scavenging and found this beauty. I was able to get it working again too. Soooo,” he begins, stepping back a bit, “how about we commemorate the start of a relationship that should’ve started weeks ago.”

Both Ashe and John laugh before Ashe stands up looking at her now boyfriend. “Yeah, c’mon. Let’s do it.” When John stands up, she wraps her arms around his torso, and he wraps an arm around her waist, Quill begins to count down.

“Alright in 3… 2… 1…” He takes the picture. “Perfect!”

* * *

Hancock runs his thumb over the photo before he can feel some frustration take over. Grabbing the nearest Jet canister, he brings it to his lips. “Why the fuck did I just leave… she could’ve come with- damn it.” Realizing the canister is empty, he throws it across the room, the sound echoing when it hits the wall and the floor.

Instead, he grabs a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it and taking a long drag before shutting his eyes, attempting to take his mind off of Ashe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. :)  
> Special thanks: gharashambles (silenceisaweapon)


	3. Conrad Kellogg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group has made their way to Fort Hagen and are about to meet Kellogg head on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics mean a characters thoughts are being shown.  
> Any time you see a horizontal line, it means a flashback is occurring. Once you see a second horizontal line, it means the flashback has ended.  
> Dialogue in italics in quotation marks are a characters dialogue being said through an intercom speaker.

Making their way through Fort Hagen, the trio of the Sole Survivor, the Synth Detective, and Ashe find synth after synth attacking them. The three have no trouble in mowing down each one that steps in between them and their goal. But none of them expected to hear his voice so soon once they entered a small tunnel winding through the Fort.

_ “Well if it isn’t my friend, the frozen t.v. dinner-... and look who is by her side. The very woman who said she wanted nothing to do with me. Hehehe, interesting predicament we have ourselves in.” _

Liana freezes in her place while Ashe does the same, but reloads a clip into her rifle looking around trying to locate him, but only finds a speaker in the corner of the hallway. 

_ “Have to say, never expected you two to come knocking at my door. Last time we met one of you was cozying up to the peas and apple cobbler, and the other had me pinned to the ground. Gave the frozen dinner 50/50 odds of making it to Diamond City. Figured the Commonwealth would chew you right up. Ashe however…”  _ he pauses for a longer amount of time,  _ “But you made it... My synths are standing down. Let’s talk.” _

“What’s the plan?” Liana asks, Ashe the first one to respond.

“If he is keeping his word, we hear him out. Try and get some information outta him. Try to keep a level head.”

“You too.” Nick says, but Ashe can tell by his look, is specifically talking to her. She nods her head at him before opening up the door. Liana walks in first, Nick and Ashe following on either side a few steps back. The lights flick on one by one, Synths surrounding the room, then them as the man in question walks into one of the lights, grinning. 

“There they are, the most resilient women in the Commonwealth! You’ve come a long way, so, let’s hear it.” Liana finds she can’t bring the words out of her head of what she wants to say. Noticing her silence, Ashe decides to speak up, keeping a tight grip on her rifle in front of her. 

“Where’s her son.” She asks, grasping her rifle a bit tighter as his eyes move to her. 

“And look who answered first.” He grins wickedly, Nick glancing between the two, curious about their interaction. “We’ll get to you in a minute. But the Vault dweller I think wants to say something.”

“You…” Liana begins, “You killed my husband… took my son.” She grits her teeth. 

“Your husband, a regrettable accident. Pain… suffering… Death is it’s only escape.. But not to worry. Shaun’s fine. A bit, older than you’d expect though. But, if you’re here for him, can’t give ‘em to ya. He ain’t here.”

“Then tell me where he is.” Liana says, getting a bit more angry. 

“He’s in a good place, a comfortable place. A place where he calls home. The Institute.”

“Then tell me where the hell The Institute is.”

“You obviously haven’t been paying attention then dollface. You can’t  _ find _ the Institute, we find  _ you _ .” He pauses to look back at Ashe who continues to glare at him. “Now you, well, I gotta say I’m very surprised.”

“This ain’t about me-.” Ashe begins to say but Kellogg cuts her off.

“Oh but it is. You, my little bird, are quite possibly the most interesting woman to me. We had our… fling, and you wanted nothing to do with me. But here you are, rifle at the ready.” He pauses, his gaze glancing at the way her finger slowly begins to slide towards the trigger. “We all know how this will end, but before we start this… I gotta know Ashe. Who was better. Me, or your ex-boyfriend who decided turning ghoul was better than being with y-.”

Shots ring out.  
The fighting is over rather quickly thanks to Ashe’s temper.  
And thanks to her gun.

Ashe lowers her rifle, Liana standing over Kellogg’s now lifeless body, her gun being holstered on her hip as Ashe stays standing, rifle pointed at Kellogg’s lifeless body. That is until she feels Nick’s metal hand touch her shoulder. “You alright?” He asks, Ashe slowly lowering the gun.

“... Yeah. But there’s something I gotta know…” Ashe walks over and kneels beside Kellogg, a very clear hole blown out of his skull. From here she can see metal parts inside. “Mother fucker…” She takes a knife and cleanly as possible, pulls the synth component out. Nick comes over, kneeling beside her taking the part.

“Institute tech… well, at least we have a clear answer.”

“We still don’t know how to get inside and our main contact is now dead.” Ashe says a bit frustrated and looks over at Liana who is still visibly shaking. Looking at her, she can very clearly see this is probably the most intense gunfight she’s been in. Quickly changing her tune, Ashe stands up and walks over to the vault dweller. “Hey," Ashe says patting Liana's shoulder, “it’ll be alright. We’ll figure something out, won’t we Nicky?”

“That’s right. In fact, I may know someone who can help. There’s a Doc over in Goodneighbor who may be able to figure out if we can use this component to get into the Institute. Judging by the look on Liana’s face, seems like you’re ready to go. But Ashe,” he pauses, “Hancock will be there. Hell, he’s the mayor after all. If you wanna skedaddle outta this mess-.”

“No. I’m with you 100%. Until we get Goodneighbor at least.” 

Gathering their belongings, and scavenging through some of the rooms in the Fort, the group continues on, Dogmeat eventually parting ways with the trio. The walk is pretty quiet, Nick noticing how quiet Ashe is being as they have some conversation between the three of them. At one point, Ashe glances at Nick from the corner of her eye, seeing the concern on his face. 

Nightfall comes around and they manage to find a small settlement to stay the night at. As Liana, being as tired as she was after the Kellogg fight, buys a room and goes right inside falling asleep. After Nick buys a room for himself, he sees Ashe off towards the edge of the settlement sitting on a bench, the soft glow of a cigarette illuminating her silhouette. 

He walks over to her and stops once he gets beside the bench. “This seat taken?” He asks as she slides over to the right to make room for him. Sitting down, he leans back and looks out over the small pond in front of them before going to say anything. But once he opens his mouth to speak, Ashe beats him to it.

“I know you want to ask about Kellogg. Might as well do it now.” She says taking a long drag on the cigarette before offering it to him. He waves her off, declining the smoke.

“What exactly happened between you two? Hell, I had no idea you even knew about him before we started all of this in Diamond City.” Leaning forward, she rests her arms on her thighs taking a deep breath in and out. “What’s going on Ashe?”

“Kellogg and I… One day we were in the Dugout Inn. Bought me a drink. Had no idea who the guy was, what he did for a living. This was, after John left Diamond City. So, I was still a little heartbroken, not sure if our relationship was even a thing especially since John said I shouldn’t be with someone like him. So I took the jump and had a little fun that night.”

“Understandable. Heartbroken mixed with liquid courage always turns a night interesting.”

“It didn’t end there though. I… always got the feeling I was being watched. I’d look around and there he was…. he would be there. Every. Damn. Time. Once I left to scavenge and we ran into each other in one of the buildings outside the walls of the City.”

* * *

Once clearing one of the buildings in Downtown Boston, Ashe begins to scavenge, starting at the top floor and working her way down. She gets through the top floor and once she begins searching the next floor, she begins to hear footsteps coming up the staircase. She grabs her .45 pistol pointing it at the stairs and groans once she sees who it is.  Kellogg stops at the top of the steps and grins wickedly at her before laughing a little. She puts her gun away and continues to scavenge and look through the boxes and cabinets while he starts talking. 

“Looky what we have here.”

“I was here first, piss off ScarFace.” Ashe groans and continues to scavenge around, trying not to pay him any mind. 

“ScarFace, oooooo... such a burn coming from someone with more scars.” She immediately stands up and looks at him, wishing he would just leave.

“What do you want Kellogg?” She asks more seriously looking at the man. He grins, beginning to walk incredibly slowly towards her, staring her down.

“Well, I came here looking for some food, maybe a carton of water. I start hearing some noise, then it stops. Come up here and find you of all people. Figured this could get… interesting…” she grips the combat knife that’s attached to her leg holster. He eyes the weapon before continuing, “What would you say to a bit of a job.” She squints her eyes. “Teaming up for a while. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.” 

“I believe we scratched each other's backs enough.” She says glaring at him, “And if you come any closer-.”

Kellogg immediately takes a few final quick steps and quickly grabs her wrists and pins her arms up against the wall, able to quickly move both wrists to one hand while the other pulls out a knife. There is some minor struggle from Ashe until he pulls the weapon. “And you’ll do what, hm?” He then takes the blade end of the weapon, touching just underneath her chin, forcing her to look at him. “I am offering you a chance to get outta that hell hole of a city. Get you really putting your… skillset to use.”

She waits a moment, before jumping up, kicking him in the stomach, making him fall backwards, allowing her to be free. The next minute goes by quickly as the two find they are an even match. However, when Ashe goes to stab Kellogg, he’s able to take her knife and get her good a couple times across her face.

Ashe can feel intense pain in her face beginning to see blood dripping down over her eye.

“You fucking asshole!”

She takes the opportunity in their moment of pause and pushes him back more as he falls backwards, her legs now pinning his arms beside his body. She is now straddling his torso, and one the surprise leaves his face, he grins. Ashe grasps his collar, leaning down towards his face.

“Let me make this fucking clear. Leave. Me. Alone. Don’t talk to me, fuck off and never try to find me ever again. I don’t want to work with you, I don’t want to fuck you, I want nothing to do with you. Got it?” Some blood drips down onto his face and clothes from her face.

“... Loud and clear.”

* * *

Nick listens intently to the story, eyeing up the scar that runs over her left eyebrow and eye, and the ones that are incredibly close to her lips. “And that was the end of that. Until we found and killed him.

“So that’s where those scars came from…” Nick says mainly to himself, but out loud, “I had always wondered why you were so secretive about them.”

“I didn’t want to go blabbing about where they were from. I knew he lived somewhere in the city and didn’t want to get roped up in trouble because of it. Figured it would just be easier to let it go.” Nick notices Ashe speaking in a softer tone than usual as she continues. “He was, and is the only person to get the upper hand on me like that, ya know.”

“Really?” Ashe nods, Nick leaning back into the bench more. “No wonder you unloaded an entire magazine into him.”

The air is quiet between the two, only the occasional gunshot in the distance is heard. That is until Nick speaks up again. 

“They healed nicely. The one over your eye could’ve made ya blind. And the ones leading to your lips... I’ve seen what happens when you cut your lip pretty bad. A buddy of mine back in Chicago dealt with that.”

“Must be luck.” Nick continues to look at her, Ashe noticing immediately. “What?”

“That isn’t all that’s bothering you.” She sighs as she sits back up, sitting more on her left side facing more towards Nick. 

“It’s just… what the hell am I supposed to do when I see John again? Well, Hancock I should say. I know he doesn’t go by John anymore.”

“And the fact that he is a ghoul now.” The air between the two is silent for a moment. “Honestly Ashe, I’m not too sure. I guess play it out, see what happens.”

_ I can tell ya one thing Nick, I want to walk into Goodneighbor and just give him the biggest hug in existence.  _ She thinks to herself.  _ I hope he thinks the same of me still… damn… never thought I’d actually get to see him again. _

Ashe is brought out of her thoughts by Nick. “You should probably get some rest. It isn’t like you’re a synth like me and don’t need sleep.”

“Very true,’ she says standing up, “Thanks Nick. That helped. A lot.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Goodnight Ashe.”

“Goodnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. :)  
> Special thanks: gharashambles (silenceisaweapon)


	4. Ashe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our trio reaches Goodneighbor, Ashe finally needing to face her fear of Hancock not wanting anything to do with her head on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics mean a characters thoughts are being shown.  
> Dialogue in italics in quotation marks are a characters dialogue being said through a monitor.

Hancock, on his usual night time walk, begins to hear a commotion down the alleyway towards the main gate. Quickening his step, he stops once he reaches the end of the alley, but not enough to where he would be immediately noticed. From his position, he can see exactly what is going down.

Finn, attempting his normal con job, and three potential victims.

_ We got a lady- shit is that a Pip-boy?  _ He thinks, looking over at the second person he can see.  _ Nick? What the hell… _

The minute the third person steps out into the main square, Hancock freezes up.

_ Holy shit is that… Ashe?! _

“Look what we have here,” Finn begins, “new visitors. Welcome to Goodneighbor. I believe you all need protection.” Immediately, Hancock sees how Ashe looks at the man, squinting her eyes at him at the notion of needing protection.

_ She’s armed to the teeth like usual… this should be interesting.  _ Hancock thinks as he watches the situation unfold in front of him.

“I think we’ll be fine. Thank you.” Liana responds, Finn obviously getting a little annoyed.

“Alright," Finn begins to get more and more annoyed, "tell ya what. How about you three hand over everything ya got and this won’t turn into a bloody mess.” Ashe steps out further and walks so she is in between Finn and Liana, staring Finn down. 

“You threatening us?” Ashe asks, Hancock watching her stand her ground.

“Might be.” Finn takes one step forward so they are inches apart. “Whatcha gonna do about it.” Hancock watches as the lights illuminating the street, somewhat gleam off of her combat knife’s blade. He can see how tense Finn gets as she pulls the knife out just enough for him to see. 

“Got a knife with your name on it. Probably a stupid fucking name for being a con man.” He grins and laughs. “What is it so I can spell it in blood later.” 

“Finn.” Hancock calls out. Unknown to the group, he has been watching the entire time from the shadows. As Hancock walks over to Finn to confront him, he sees the way Ashe looks at him. The confusion is what gets him the most, seeing her look at him with a tinge of doubt in her eyes. He decides to ignore her for now as she takes a few steps back as Finn looks at him. “Finn, brother, that isn’t a way to greet new visitors. Everyone that walks through those gates is a guest. And we treat guests with respect.” 

“That’s why people step all over ya Hancock. You let anyone in and treat ‘em like they’re nice and shit. That one there’s a fucking synth! And this bitch here-.” Finn doesn’t have enough time to finish that statement because as he points at Ashe, Hancock yanks him by the collar towards him shooting him a glare that could kill. 

“You may want to reword that. Or say it a bit louder for her to hear.”

“Look at you… all soft and-.” Within a second, he pulls out his knife and stabs him multiple times, slowly letting him down to the ground. Hancock turns, stepping over Finn’s body towards them. He stops a few feet away from Ashe, looking straight into her eyes.

He looks for a sign, anything on her face to give it away that she is happy to see him. And it only lasts a few seconds before she looks straight into his eyes and cracks a smile. 

“... John?" She asks, somewhat breathlessly. "Is that…?” 

“Ashe…" Hancock can't help but smile at the sight of her smile, "Damn Ashe it’s… so good to see you again.” He walks over to her, arms outstretched and she meets him halfway, the two of them embracing one another for a minute, Ashe burying her face into his neck. For minute he contemplates whether or not he can feel tears, which is confirmed when she very quickly wipes her eyes.

“I heard stories about you…” she begins, Hancock getting a little bit nervous, “about what happened…” She looks up at him into his dark eyes. From this close, she can see the faint detail of pupils. “I’m glad to know my John is still in there.”

“ _ My John _ ? Ehehe, damn Ashe, didn’t think you wanted anything to do with me after I left.”

“Are you kidding? Of course I did.” She pauses before asking softer, “What about you? And me."

“You have no idea.” He touches the back of her head and kisses her forehead. Ashe turns around and the pair rejoins Nick and Liana, Liana smiling like an idiot with how Hancock still has an arm around Ashe, Ashe visibly blushing.

“Nicky Valentine, now it’s a party. And this is?”

“I’m Liana.” The Vault Dweller responds with a smile.”You must be Hancock.”

“Mayor of Goodneighbor at your service. What brings all you here?” Nick is the one to respond to Hancock’s question.

“Looking to talk to Dr. Amari on a kidnapping case. I can explain later after we get some answers.” 

“Geesh, another one?” He looks at Ashe, “You helping them too?” She nods her head. “Count me in. At least for the time being. Haven’t been to the Memory Den in a while. C’mon, I’ll walk you all over.”

As the group begins walking through the alleyway deeper into town, Ashe notices each guard nod’s their head at her, making direct eye contact as she walks with Hancock holding her protectively close to him. “Hey uh, John-.” she begins to say quietly but he cuts her off, speaking just as quiet.

“I waited so long to hear you say my name again, but it’s… Hancock now. At least in public. I can explain later.”

“Noted. So um, why is each of your… guards nodding at me?” She asks as they pass by one of the guards on the corner, Ashe giving them a nod back.

“Oh them? You think I arrived and didn’t talk about you? Every single person knows who you are and what you mean to me. Now I can just make it more official.” 

The group of four all make their way to the memory den, Liana and Nick taking the lead to talk to Dr. Amari, both getting in the pods to try and access Kellogg’s memories. The entire time they are in there, Hancock slowly begins to notice the way Ashe is sitting down on one of the chairs off to the side of the room. 

Sitting with her forearms resting on her knees.  
Her fingers fiddling with one another.

_ Nervous as hell, that ain’t like her _ , Hancock thinks to himself as himself, Ashe and Dr. Amari watch on the monitor behind the pods to know what Liana is seeing projected through Nick. Dr. Amari speaks into one of the microphones connected to the pods, saying, “Hold on, there’s one more memory still intact… strange… it doesn’t seem like it’s about your son.” 

Liana walks over to the memory, showing the inside of the Dugout Inn inside Diamond City. Kellogg walks over to one of the sofa’s leaning over the back of it to whisper into the person sitting on the couch. 

_ “Well look who it is.”  
_ _ “Kellogg? I didn’t know you were here.” _

Ashe’s voice transmits through the speakers, Hancock immediately turning to look at her. She is now completely still as she looks away from the monitor, staring down at her hands, looking a bit repulsed. 

_ “Can I buy you a drink?”  
_ _ "Ah sure, another won’t hurt much.”  
_ _ "Looking to forget something?”  
_ _ “You could say that.” _

Ashe stands and leaves the room, Hancock watching as she walks up the steps to the main floor. Hancock stays until the memory ends, and once he does he turns on his heels and leaves the room, quickly ascending the steps. Scanning the room, he doesn’t see her, so he hurries outside and finds her leaning against the building off to the right, a lit cigarette between her fingers. She notices him immediately when he walks over to her, Hancock speaking up first.

“What the hell was that?” Hancock asks leaning up against the wall beside her.

“How far did the memory go.” Ashe responds with a question, sounding a bit monotone.

“When you got up and followed him home. That was a whole other side that I’ve never seen of you Ashe. You didn’t even have all your scars.”

Ashe takes a moment before responding. “It was right after you left… I was upset, what can I say.” She takes a long drag on her cigarette before continuing. “Heartbroken and liquid courage makes you do some pretty interesting things.”

The minute he hears ‘heartbroken’, something inside him hurts a little, knowing that she felt that only because he left. “But you said in the memory you didn’t know he was in the city. You have more history than that with this guy?”

She sighs, taking another drag of the cigarette. “I kept running into the fucker. He gave me these in a scuffle we had with each other.” Ashe motions to the scars on the left hand side of her face, the ones near her eye and lips, Hancock studying them intently. “That was the second to last time I saw him. But like I said, everyone and anything that gave me these scars are dead. He just happens to have an entire clip in his body courtesy of me.”

“Good. Or else he’d have me to answer to.” Hancock responds as he leans to look more at her, Ashe turning her head to look at him. Hancock studies her features, all the scars that he wasn’t there to see, the slight pain in her eyes from her past being suddenly brought up. His eyes eventually travel and look over the claw scars on her face. “The Deathclaw scars healed nicely. Beginning to fade even. And these,” he says pointing at the two small scars on the bridge of her nose, “who crossed you enough to give you these?”

“Couple of raiders, no big deal.” Hancock’s eyes then glance over her body, the gear she has acquired over the years.

The same super modded assault rifle on her back.  
The scars on her face.  
And especially...

“Nice coat.” He says simply, taking in the long battlecoat before grinning at her, “But mine’s better.” This makes Ashe laugh.

“Oh yeah? And whose grave did you dig up to get that thing?” She asks smiling and that is exactly when the door to the Memory Den opens, Nick walking out with Liana shortly behind him. The pair walk over and join Ashe and Hancock in their position against the wall. 

Nick is the first one to speak, “Turns out we’ll be in town for more than we expect.” He begins, Hancock responding. 

“The more the merrier! I’ll at least get you for your first night at the hotel. C’mon. Follow me.” The group follows the ghoul to the hotel in town, him renting two rooms for at least the next two nights, however Ashe is curious on where she will sleep. 

She bids Nick and Liana a goodnight and Hancock leads her out of the hotel with a smile on his face. “So where am I sleeping then?” She asks, Hancock wrapping an arm around her body to pull her tightly into him. 

“Did ya really think that I’d put ya up in a hotel when I have a perfectly good bed?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. :)  
> Special thanks: gharashambles (silenceisaweapon)  
> \-----  
> A bit of a shorter one, but I still wanted to post this little snippet of their reunion. :)


End file.
